We have a completely separate quarantine room where pups are put if they have a transferable illness." "If I have eight on meds, then I feel I am doing my job to not sell sick pups. Pet City owner Casey Ellis responded to our questions, saying on average she has 60 to 70 puppies at a time, with a staff of 3 to 8 people cleaning up every 15 minutes. "If there's sick dogs with healthy dogs, that's what we require. The state wrote up violations because employees were even treating some of the animals without consent from a vet, and housing sick dogs with healthy ones. Customers complained of thousands of dollars in vet bills, and in one instance in 2016, a dog actually died after coming home with its owner.
Records show reports of sickly dogs appearing to struggle with their breathing some seemed lethargic and were rolling around in bloody diarrhea. We requested complaints from the Department of Agriculture spanning the last two years. People go in and they may see the puppies in conditions that are kind of gross,” said Department of Agriculture spokesperson Nick Fisher.ĭenver7 went undercover and saw fair conditions. "We get a lot of complaints about them and it's related to location because they’re in a mall setting. She had some other type of bacterial infection in her gut,” said John.Īccording to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Pet City is one of their problem shops. "She had worms, she had a really bad cough, she had kennel cough. They took her home, with medical records showing she had all her vaccinations and had been treated for kennel cough, but the next few months proved otherwise. "You can imagine a lab puppy in a very small kennel with another 4-month-old German Shepherd, just crammed in there," he said. The price was marked down from $1,100 to $400. It seemed like she was in a discount bin," John said. John and his partner really wanted a dog, but they never planned to buy one from the mall - until they saw her. That was his first impression of Pet City, the pet shop inside the Town Center of Aurora mall. "It was just so dirty in there and such cramped living conditions." "We saw a lot of dogs that were really filthy, covered in their own filth," said John. The customer would like to remain anonymous, so we'll call him John. Denver7 went undercover to get an inside look at their living conditions and spoke to a customer who had a horrible experience bringing his dog back to health. While the Dumb Friends League did not participate in the hearing, we strongly oppose the inhumane treatment of animals in puppy mills. The League supports legislation requiring-at a minimum-that breeding facilities be licensed and inspected on a regular basis and that dogs and cats receive proper veterinary care.AURORA, Colo.- An Aurora pet store is being accused of not taking care of the puppies they’re selling.
#Pet city colorado update
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) supported the measure and shared details about the terrible conditions found in some “puppy mill” breeding facilities that have been connected to the Colorado Springs pet stores that testified. HSUS and supporters of the measure pleaded with the pet store owners to update their practices to embrace a more humane model.
According to Purdue’s website, Canine Care Certified is a nationwide, voluntary program that addresses the health and overall welfare of dogs in the care of breeders in the United States. Breeders seeking to be certified must meet “rigorous standards for physical and behavioral welfare,” including things like providing veterinary and behavioral care, and meeting certain environmental and housing considerations. However, the pet store owners also admitted that they currently do not source dogs entirely from Canine Care Certified breeders.
The owners of two pet stores in Colorado Springs, who vehemently opposed the ordinance, argued that a better solution would be to require pet stores to source from breeders who adhere to Purdue University’s Canine Care Certified Standards. City Council President Tom Strand, who favored the measure, was visibly frustrated with the pet store owners and admonished their unwillingness to collaborate with advocates to find a solution. The proposed ordinance would have required local pet stores to source dogs and cats from shelters and rescues instead of commercial breeders, which, according to the measure’s proponents, would help eliminate the puppy mill-to-pet store pipeline.Īfter several hours of debate, which included tearful stories from pet owners and pet store employees, the council voted against the ordinance 5-4. Colorado Springs City Council had the opportunity last week to become one of more than 400 cities (including 10 in Colorado) to ban the sale of puppies and kittens from commercial breeders in pet stores.
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